Drinking device for hospital patients



July 31, 1956 w. v. DEANE DRINKING DEVICE FOR HOSPITAL PATIENTS FiledApril 30, 1954 INVENTOR. HM Y. DEHNE W/LL/ United States Patent iceDRINKING DEVICE FOR HOSPITAL PATIENTS William V. Deane, Los Angeles,Calif.

Application April 30, 1954, Serial No. 426,894

'3 Claims. (Cl. 128-1) This invention relates to a drinkingdevice forhospital patients.

It is an object of my invention to provide a drinking evice which iscapable of being used by a hospital patient or other bedridden personwith a minimum amount of expended energy in order to obtain a drink ofwater or other beneficial fluid without the assistance of a nurse orattendant.

It is particularly an object of my invention to free the nurses andhospital attendants, or those attending the sick in the home, from thenecessity of having to assist .the patient each time that water isdesired. This consumes a large amount of time and is of considerableexpense to the hospital and an annoyance to the nurses and attendants,whose time and attention are distracted from other and more importantduties.

At the present time, a conventional drinking glass is often used, withor Without a glass tube, or some other type of liquid container is usedwhich must be held by the patient or by the nurse if the patient isunable to do so. It is an object of my invention to provide a device inwhich the liquid is not held by either the nurse or the patient, but ismade available adjacent the bedside of the patient in a containerespecially designed and constructed for the purpose.

With my invention, the only thing which is held by the patient is asimple and light valve, having a mouthpiece which the patient places inhis mouth. An easily operated finger-tip valve permits liquid to flowinto the mouth or cuts it oil, as desired. Even the weakest patient canoperate my device with a minimum of effort.

It is a related object of my invention to provide improved means ofstoring the liquids which are supplied to the patient and particularlysuch means which may be used in cooperation with facilities of the typewhich are customarily available in the hospital.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a device in whichall parts which are held or operated by the patient are light in weightand simple to use, requiring a minimum amount of effort on the part ofthe patient.

My invention also comprises such other objects, advantages andcapabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherentlypossessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodimentof my invention, it should be understood that the same is susceptible ofmodification and change without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my device inuse, with some of the internal construction shown in dotted lines. Thesize of the valve assembly is enlarged for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the valve assembly of my devicein use, being irregular to extend through one of the passages;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the stopper 2,756,740 PatentedJuly 31, 1956 Fig. 4 is a sectional view of my valve assembly, taken online 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of my valve assembly, taken on line 55 ofFig. 2.

A preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate myinvention comprises a liquid supply bottle 10, which is preferably avacuum bottle which is insulated in such a manner as to maintain thetemperature of any liquid which is placed therein. The bottom of bottle10 is provided with a circular flange 11. Positioned adjacent flange l1and extending circumferentially around bottle 10 is a metal band 12.Pivotally attached to band 12 is a semi-circular wire bail 13 having acentrally disposed notch 14.

Bail 13 is adapted to extend upwardly from the bottom of bottle 10 whenthe bottle is inverted. Notch 14 is adapted to be attached to a hook,nail or other fastening device on a wall or elsewhere. It may be notedin this connection that every hospital is provided with facilities forholding bottles in an inverted position for parenteral injections and myinvention is adapted tobe used in connection with such previouslyexisting facilities whenever desired.

Bottle 10 is provided with a vacuum jacket which maintains the hot orcold temperature of the liquid which it contains. Mounted in the top ofbottle 10 is a resilient stopper 15 having a pair of openings. Mountedin one of the openings is an air inlet tube 16, which extends fromstopper 15 to substantially the bottom of bottle 10. Mounted in theother opening is the end of a liquid flow tube 17, which conveys liquidout of bottle 10.

Liquid flow tube 17 is of indeterminate length and is connected at itsopposite end by screw threading or other suitable means to a valveassembly 18. Valve assembly 18 comprises a substantially cylindricalhousing 19 having a hollow projection 20 to which the end of liquid flowtube 17 is attached.

Extending from the opposite side of housing 19 is an elongated flattenedmouthpiece21, having a pair of passages-leading from the inside ofhousing 19 to an open end which is adapted to be placed in the mouth ofthe patient and held between the lips.

Movably mounted within housing 19 is a plunger 22, which is providedwith top and bottom collars 23 and 24 respectively and a central narrowportion 25 extending therebetween. Mounted within the bottom of housing19 is a coil spring 26, which exerts upward pressure against the bottomof collar 24. Plunger 22 is provided with an upwardly extending neck 27,on the top of which a head 28 is mounted by means of a screw 29, whichextends through head 28 and through a cutaway portion adjacent the topof neck 27. A cap 30 is attached to the top of housing 19 and isprovided with a centrally disposed opening through which neck 27extends.

When my device is not in use, coil spring 26 exerts upward pressure onplunger 22 by bearing against the bottom of collar 24 thereof. Thisforce holds collar 24 in alignment with projection 20 and mouthpiece 21to block off their passages so that no liquid can flow through valveassembly 18.

In use, bottle 10 may be filled with hot or cold water, soup, juice, orany other suitable liquid of whatever temperature may be desired andthen suspended in an inverted position adjacent the bedside of thepatient. The complete device is assembled as illustrated, with the valveI assembly placed adjacent the head of the patient and 28 is sufiicientto counteract the force of coil spring 26 and move plunger 22 downwardlywithin housing 19. Collar 24 moves downwardly, bringing narrow portion25 .in .line with projection 20 and mouthpiece 21.

The liquid is then free to be drawn by suction from the mouth of the.patient and by the force of gravity from bottle '10 through liquid flowtube 17, through projection 2.0 and into the interior of housing 19. Theliquid there fiows around narrow portion 25 of plunger 22 and .outthrough the passages of mouthpiece 21 into the mouth of the patient. Airto replace the liquid which is taken from bottle enters through airinlet tube 16.

When .the patient has received a sufiicient amount of liquid, he need.only release head 28, allowing coil spring 26 to exert upward force oncollar 24, moving collar 24 upwardly .to block projection 20 andmouthpiece 21. The top of collar 23 bears against the inside of cap 30to limit the upward movement of plunger 22.

My device may be constructed of any suitable materials which arepreferably light in weight, such as plastic, and may easily .besterilized.

When a patient is lying on his back, the throat passages are somewhatrestricted and a substantial flow of water cannot be swallowed. With mydevice, the mouthpiece 21 is provided with a pair of small passages 31and 32 which limit and restrict the flow of water to the mouth of the.patient.

In order to prevent leakage from occurring around the sides .of plunger22, I may provide recesses therein, in which are mounted resilientO-rings, which act as moving seals. One such O-ring may be provided oneach side of the openings in housing 19. I may also provide aconstruction in which the liquid inlet and outlet are not aligned, butare otfset from each other. In such case, an additional O-ring may berequired, to be positioned between .the inlet and outlet when plunger 22is in closed position.

I claim:

1. A drinking device for hospital patients comprising a containeradapted to hold a substantial quantity of liquid and adapted to bepositioned adjacent the bed of the patient, a liquid outlet tubeconnected at one end to said container, an air inlet tube connected tosaid container and adapted to supply air to replace liquid withdrawnthrough 'said liquid outlet tube, a valve assembly connected to theopposite end of said tube, said valve assembly having a mouthpieceadapted to be inserted into the mouth of the patient and valve operatingmeans manually operable by the patient to permit liquid to flow fromsaid container through said liquid outlet tube, through said valveassembly and mouthpiece into the mouth of the patient, said device beingoperable by the patient without assistance and without any change ofposition, said valve'operatin-g means comprising a plunger verticallymovable within said valve assembly, means for biasing said plunger toprevent the flow of liquid through .said valve assembly, said plungeradapted to be moved to counteract said biasing and permit the flow ofliquid past said plunger from said outlet tube to said mouthpiece.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, said plunger having a collar adjacentthe bottom thereof and a narrow portion disposed above said collar, saidmeans for biasing said collar comprising a coil spring disposed withinsaid valve assembly beneath said plunger, said spring exerting upwardpressure against the bottom of said collar to hold said collar inposition between said outlet tube and said mouthpiece, said plungeradapted to be depressed against the pressure of said spring to move saidnarrow portion into position between said outlet tube and saidmouthpiece to permit liquid to be drawn around said narrow portion andinto said mouthpiece.

3. The subject matter of claim 1, said container comprising a vacuumbottle adapted to maintain substantially constant the temperature ofliquids therein and means for maintaining said container in invertedposition, said liquid outlet tube being connected to the top of saidcontainer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS138,417 Lockwood Apr. 29, 1873 1,077,490 Quigley Nov. 4, 1913 1,112,168Stilling Sept. 29, 1914 1,694,233 Robinson Dec. 4, 1928 2,700,384 IvoryJan. 25, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,140 Great Britain 1865

